The Ties That Choke Us
by AliceKayMaybe
Summary: Quirkless people are often kept out of sight. But she will make them see, even if she has to pry their eyes open with her own two hands. (Quirkless OC fanfic)
1. Chapter 1

**The Ties That Choke Us**

A brief introduction

* * *

Motome Aiza hated.

She hated people, she hated the sad excuse of an orphanage she lived in and she hated the fucked up society that turned its back on her and others like her.

She didn't have a quirk and for some reason this made people think she was less.

The people who ran the orphanage saw her as weak and fragile. They knew what she was like, they knew she was angry and spiteful and yet they still treated her like glass.

The kids on the playground a few streets away thought she was weak. They didn't want to play with the quirkless kid because they thought she would drag them down. No matter how many times she punched them in the face or bit at their arms their opinions of her didn't change.

The adults in shops and on the streets thought she was to be pitied. A poor little girl, abandoned by her parents because they didn't know how to take care of a quirkless child. How terrible of them, how unlucky for her that she was born without a quirk. Really it was awful but they couldn't blame them. They could only imagine how _hard_ it would be to have to look out for a child like that.

Everyone had an opinion, everyone had something to say.

But nobody _did_ anything.

So Motome Aiza hated.

She hated because if she didn't she would stop feeling anything at all. It would be so easy to just let go of it. To just let their opinions, words and inactions pass through her and mind her own business. It would be so easy to let them decide how she should live her life, somewhere out of sight, quietly living out the rest of her days not living at all but just existing.

It would be so easy to give up and hope for a better life next time.

But Motome Aiza hated.

So she didn't give up, she didn't go with it. She decided keep her head up, square her shoulders and raise her fists. She decided to fight.

They wanted her to be a nobody, a background grey in a world of colour.

She would polish her dull grey into the shining silver of a lethal sword.

And she would carve out the rotten heart of the society they loved so much from the inside.

She would be a hero.

* * *

**So, I started another story!**

**I love Izuku, who doesn't? He's amazing. But I really wanted a quirkless hero who could be a source of hope for people without quirks and people with weak quirks. Just people who weren't born with any natural advantages I guess.**

**So here's Aiza!**

**There will be themes like bullying, discrimination and other heavy subjects in this story. **

**Thanks for reading,**

**~Alice**


	2. Blessed Be

**The Ties That Bind**

Blessed be

* * *

_Blessed be the tie that binds_

_Our hearts in Christian love;_

_The fellowship of kindred minds_

_Is like that to that above_

* * *

Pretty words, but they didn't mean anything to Aiza.

She didn't feel loved, she didn't feel like she was surrounded by kindred minds and she certainly didn't believe in God.

The only ties that bound her were the ones that tried to hold her back. The people who didn't want her to reach her goals and the ones who simply believed she couldn't, who said they were _protecting_ her.

The hypocrites.

she would love nothing more than to cut these ties that shackled her to society and its expectations, sadly that was not something that could be done so easily.

She had learned how to live with them by now. The constant pulling of her personal chains had only made her stronger, one day she would break free.

The day of the U.A. entrance exam she felt the first strings snap. It was a moment she would never forget. Destroying robots left and right by going for their weak points she felt like she was destroying the limits society had set for her. If she could past a test created for future heroes there was no reason she couldn't be a hero herself.

The exam left her with a sense of victory even long after it was over.

It was on her first day of school that things started to change from her initial plan. Her plan was simple, there were only five steps: get into the school, get good grades, graduate, become a hero, change society.

It was simple, it should've been easy. She would have stayed out of the way of her classmates, hopefully they wouldn't bother her too much and if they did she would do her best to ignore them. However, that wasn't what happened.

She didn't count on making friends.

But somehow she did, and she knew.

One way or another these ties would be her death.

* * *

The exams had been easier than she had expected. Sure, the robots were large and strong but the weak spots were fairly obvious if you knew to look. Although she supposed most of the aspiring students preferred blind violence over tactics which wasn't that strange if you had a quirk capable of delivering a lot of damage.

The written test was above average too when it came to difficulty but she came prepared, the black haired girl had spent all the time she had those six months before the test preparing herself both physically and mentally. In the end she passed with flying colours taking fifth place with 35 villain points and 32 rescue points. While she had berated herself for stopping so many times to help others during and shortly after the exam she was glad she did so in the end.

The points of her practical test combined with the results of her written test had gotten her a place in class 1-A, she would get to be trained as a hero. She would get better training than what she did by herself. All of her martial arts lessons and workouts ensured that she had the body of a fighter already.

Despite being about average length she's relatively muscular for her age and all of the time in the sun from training outside had darkened her already dusky skin even more.

She has many scars on her knuckles, arms and legs. The biggest one running all the way from her shoulder to her elbow from when she pissed off the wrong guy in an illegal fighting ring. She should probably stop going to those now that she was actually going to a school for heroes.

Finally she reaches the school gates. UA isn't too far from her home so she prefers to walk her way there instead of taking the train, it's cheaper too.

She walks through the gate and tries to find the classroom. It's a good thing she came so early, the place is huge.

"Hey," someone calls out. Some blond guy waves her way trying to look cool.

She ignores him and walks past him without sparing him another glance.

"Ehm, hello"

She continues to ignore him. Hopefully he'll give up.

"Hey!"

This time he talks louder and starts to walk after her.

"You're a new student too right? I'm Kaminari Denki, I'm in the hero course. What about you?"

Why can't he go bother someone else? Clearly the guy can't take a hint because he just keeps following her.

"This place is totally confusing right? Say, are you in class 1A by any chance? It'd be so cool if you were, are you?"

At this point she gives up on ignoring him and stops walking.

"What do you want?" she sighs.

He looks surprised at her question.

"So you _can_ talk. I'm just making conversation. You're the first person I've seen here, the first person around my age at least. So, what class are you in?"

She's. Unsure about what to do. People aren't usually this nice to her without being overwhelming or fake. Then again, he doesn't know about her. Should she just tell him now?

Something inside of her twists at the thought. Maybe not yet. It would be nice to have someone to actually be able to talk to normally before things go to hell. Just for now, it'll probably hurt more later but if she wants to change things she might as well start now. Better to make an impression before his judgement gets clouded.

"I'm in 1A," she answers continuing her way to the classroom. "like you I guess. What did you score in the practical exams?"

She doesn't think she saw his name in the top 10. If she impresses him with her place he might be less inclined underestimate her too much later on at least.

He starts walking a bit straighter and flashes her a bright grin.

"You're looking at number 12 out of everyone in the exams!" He points toward himself. "55 points. That's 10 recue points and 45 whole villain points! How about you?"

She hates to ruin his pride, but she really doesn't. Never let it be said she's a good person, she isn't.

"Motome Aiza, 67 points, fifth place," she smirks. She worked hard for those points, she's allowed to brag. Besides, it's not like anyone will care after they find out about her _condition_.

He gapes at her. His wide eyes and hanging mouth make quite the comical image. She kind of wishes she could take a picture for future blackmail material but doing so in an obvious way wouldn't be smart.

"Wow. Fifth place. You have some kind of amazing offensive quirk you're hiding?"

Her smile falls off her face.

"No, I actually trained." She says irritated.

Her pace quickened.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like you didn't work for it. I mean everyone did their best so-"

"We're here," she cuts him off.

Even in a bad mood she feels a sense of amazement at the large doors. Looks like they did their best to account for any students who might have a quirk that affects their height.

She opens the door and steps inside, she and the blond annoyance are apparently not the first students to arrive, looks like there are a lot of people already. A stiff looking guy is noisily berating some scowling blond who has his feet on the desk. Great. More loud people.

She takes a chair in the second front row, the same one the rude one sits in, an empty seat separating them.

The Blond Annoyance, Kaminari, takes the seat to her right.

"So," he begins. "Excited for the first day? I heard we get actual pro heroes as teachers!"

She shrugs.

"They know how to fight, that doesn't necessarily mean they know how to teach stuff like history or English. I just hope they'll be good at what they do."

Before he can answer the door opens and a shorthaired girl with earphone jacks hanging from her ears walks in. She takes a bored look around the class, when she meets Aiza's eyes the dusky skinned girl raises an eyebrow.

The bored looking girl walks her way towards the seat to Aiza's left and plops down shoving her dark purple bag under the table.

"Jiro Kyouka," she introduces herself holding out her hand.

Aiza takes a moment before shaking it

"Motome Aiza."

The petite girl doesn't seem too noisy, unlike most of the other people in the class.

"Kaminari Denki,"

The idiot is leaning towards them trying to look suave while in reality he looks like he's about to fall out of his chair.

"My pleasure," he continues. "Looks like we have an interesting class right?"

Interesting was one word for it, the word she was actually thinking of was probably not one she should say out loud unless she wanted to bring the goody two-shoes attention on her.

Once more the door opened. This time the most nervous looking boy she's ever seen walks in. Seriously, he looks like he's about to fall over.

Once Glasses notices he's there he starts talking to the green haired kid.

Apparently he thinks that the shaking boy knew about the purpose of the test.

Another girl comes in begins to talk to him too, she seems really excited. Meanwhile the boy has taken to imitating a tomato with his face. Maybe his quirk allows him to change his face's colour? She's seen weirder and as she's proven you don't actually need a strong quirk to pass the exam.

"if you're just here to make friends then you can pack up your stuff now," a raspy voice underbreaks them.

So their teacher is some weirdo who comes to class in a yellow sleeping bag and likes to freak out children. Good to know.

"Welcome to U.A.'s hero course." He slurps from a juice bag and zips open his sleeping bag. "It took eight seconds before you all shut up and that's not gonna work, time is precious. Rational students would understand that."

She doesn't want to hear the guy who comes to class in a yellow sleeping bag talk about rational. Besides, he doesn't exactly look like teacher material, it's no surprise that the students didn't shut up at his entrance. Especially considering how he snuck up behind them.

"I'm Aizawa Shouta, your teacher."

A wave of surprise rushes through the class. Aiza keeps her face blank. So he really is their teacher. He must be a hero then. Probably an underground one since she doesn't recognize him, no one else seems to either.

"Right, let's get to it." He continues undisturbed by their surprise. "Put these on and head outside."

Looks like they're starting right away. Good, she doesn't like to waste time. Maybe this teacher wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

"What? A quirk assessment test?"

She takes it back.

"But orientation, we're gonna miss it," says the round-faced girl.

"If you really wanna make the big leagues you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies."

True enough, but she wouldn't call orientation pointless. Getting an introduction to the school would've been nice. But instead of that she's here. At a _quirk_ assessment test. They couldn't even call it an assessment test without the quirk part could they? Of course not.

"Here at U.A. we're tethered to traditions, that means I get to run my class however I see fit. You've been taking standardized tests most of your lives, but you never got to uses your quirks in physical exams before. The country is still trying to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational. One day the ministry of education will learn.

Bakugou, you managed to get the most points on your entry exam, what was your farthest distance throw at the softball when you were in junior high?"

The boy seems to think for a moment.

"67 meters I think," he answers eventually

"Right," the teacher says. "Try doing it with your quirk."

The rude guy who was apparently called Bakugou headed towards the spot where Aizawa had directed him.

"Just stay in the circle."

The blond stood in the circle with one of his hands in his pockets and the other hanging loosely by his side.

"Go on, you're wasting our time."

Bakugou seemed annoyed.

"Alright man you asked for it."

Stretching his muscles he prepared, and threw the ball.

"DIE!"

A huge explosion came from the palm of his hand and rocketed the softball forwards.

What. The. Fuck.

She wasn't that surprised at the explosion, she knew there were quirks capable of stuff like that, but. Die? Seriously? What the hell.

Aizawa continued his speech.

"All of you need to know your maximum capabilities. It's the most rational way of figuring out your potential as a pro hero."

He showed the class how far Bakugou had thrown the ball.

"Wow. 705 meters, are you kidding me?"

Kaminari was the first to react, most of the other students followed shortly after, everyone seemed really excited about the idea of using their quirks for the test.

Aizawa didn't seem anywhere near excited. If anything he seemed annoyed.

"So this looks fun, huh?"

The tone of his voice immediately dampened the mood of the whole class. You didn't need to be a genius to figure out something bad was going to happen.

"You have three years here to become a hero, you think it's all gonna be games and playtime?"

A dark smirk settled on his face.

"Idiots. Today you'll compete in eight physical tests to gage your potential. Whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled immediately."

Safe to say, everyone was shocked. Even Aiza. To expel someone on the first day of school, this guy was insane. Scratch that, this entire school was insane.

Still. If she could survive this, if she could survive until graduation, she would definitely be able to become a hero.

"Like I said, I get to decide how this class runs. Understand? If that's a problem you can head home right now.

Challenge _fucking_ accepted. No way was she going to be expelled before her first day was even over. She would be these assholes, quirk or no quirk.

Some of the students didn't seem to understand the situation. The soft faced girl started to complain about how he couldn't do it and that it wasn't fair.

This seemed to trigger their teacher. He talked about how the world was full of unfairness and that heroes had to combat that unfairness and push themselves to the brink. That was something she could agree with.

Her whole life ever since she was four the world had been nothing but unfair to her. And in return she had done nothing but push back, push herself above and beyond her limits, done whatever she could and more to prove them wrong. No one had ever listened to her until the exams. Now that she was hear she would push herself even more to prove to them that she deserved the place she had carved for herself here.

Even if her classmates wouldn't believe her, as long as she got the results her teacher wouldn't be able to expel her. She would shove her worth in their faces until they had no choice but to let her stay.

She would go beyond as the school's motto encouraged the students to do. Plus Ultra, her own way.

She _would_ show him that she wasn't here by some mistake.

"Now then, let's not waste any more time by talking, let the games begin."

Weird he may be, that teacher sure knew how to motivate his students

Everyone started preparing themselves and just as everone was about to head to the field...

"Motome Aiza. I need to talk to you for a moment before we begin."

Shit.

* * *

**The first chapter is done!**

**This is the first time I'm actually taking lines directly from an anime, I'm not sure how much I should copy literally and how much I should word in my own way?**

**Well. I guess we'll see how it goes.**

**As always, I hope you enjoy! Please leave a comment if you like and constructive criticism is welcome.**

**~Alice**


	3. Chains and Change

**The Ties That Choke Us**

Chains and Change

* * *

"Everyone, you can go to the testing field. Motome, you stay behind."

And so it begins. She should have known better than to expect him to treat her as equal to the others.

The others look confused but do as he says.

"See ya later," Kaminari calls at her giving her a thumbs-up.

She nods at him and turns back to Aizawa, her teacher, the one that's staring blankly at her like he didn't just ruin any hope she had of being treated like the others. Not that she had much in the first place, everywhere is the same. Whether it's the carers in the orphanage or the teachers at a hero school.

"Because of your condition-"

"I'm quirkless not sick," she rudely interrupts him. She probably shouldn't have done that but she's done gritting her teeth and taking whatever people say about her. She's fought for her place here damn it, why can't they see that she doesn't deserve to be here any less than others?

Did they overlook her quirklessness before they sent her the exam results? Is he going to expel her now?

He narrows her eyes at her.

"You don't have to take the test. The point of the test is to see the limits of what everyone can do with their quirks and you don't have one. Letting you take it would be pointless."

She glares up at him. Pointless. She hates that word. Everyone says her struggle is pointless, her work is pointless, her_ life_ is pointless.

"Actually _sensei_," she retorts. "I'd like to take the test with the others."

He raises and eyebrow at her.

"The point of the test isn't just to see the limits of everyone's quirks, it's to test everyone's potential. I'm here just like everyone else, that means I have potential. I don't see why I shouldn't be able to take the test."

He keeps staring at her, unblinking. She keeps glaring right back at him. She's not going to back down, never, especially not here.

"Alright. But if you come in last place don't expect me to treat you any differently, I won't hesitate to expel you."

A grin spreads across her face. Yes! She can take the test with the others.

There's one thing that stands out to her, he said if. _If_ she comes in last place, not when. That means he hasn't written her off completely. Maybe he'll be different from other people, just maybe.

"Good," she says, walking to the first test. "I'll just have to make sure I'm not last then."

She won't be. She may not have a quirk but she's physically stronger than most people. She's been training to be a hero ever since she was 4.

She will show them what she's worth, that none of her hard work is pointless.

She may not see it but Aizawa is staring after her, a contemplative look on his face, before he follows.

"Hey Motome! What did he want?"

She would be annoyed by Kaminari's prying but she's currently in a too good mood to care.

"Nothing relevant," she replies. "Let's ace this thing."

He grins back at her.

"That's what I'm talking about! Let's show him that we're future heroes."

The first testers take their place and she watches them. She can't stop grinning. She may not be able to take first place for this test, she knows. She's not an idiot she knows her limits.

But she'll be damned if she ends up last.

One way or another she will beat someone with a quirk today.

She _will_ prove herself to them now that they'll still listen.

* * *

The tests were the same as the ones she took in middle school, the only difference is that she sees people using their quirks everywhere.

Some people get crazy high scores for one part but low ones in others. There are some people who managed to make use of their quirk in multiple tests.

However, there are a few people whose quirks aren't good for most of the tests. An invisible girl tries her best but can't manage to get any high scores for the most part. The girl with earphone jacks doesn't seem to have any real advantages either.

The weirdest out of all of them is the green haired boy. He hasn't used his quirk a single time so far. Does he have one that just isn't suited for physical things? Or maybe he's like her? No, that can't be. She was the only one Aizawa had held back. He probably has an ill-suited quirk.

So far Aiza has done pretty well. She has relatively good scores for most of the test-portions. Not crazy high but good enough, she probably won't be in last place.

Softball is next. The bubbly girl with a round face manages to get a score of infinity. The black haired girl wonders how the overall score would be determined. Will they look at the points of all of the tests together or do you get points for your place in the test?

Now it's the nervous boy's turn, Midoriya Izuku if she remembers correctly. She feels kind of bad for him, he hasn't gotten a relatively high score even once.

He looks really nervous. Looks like he realizes it too. Unless he gets a good score in at least one portion he'll be the one to end up as last, even the invisible girl has gotten better scores so far.

A determined look comes over his face. He pulls back his arm and she thinks she sees something glitter across it, like veins. He throws the ball and-

The glitter is gone. The ball doesn't get very far and bounces lowly over the field.

"46 meters!" An automated voice cheerily calls out.

He looks at his hand in horror. Apparently he tried to use his quirk for the exercise but it didn't work.

"I erased you quirk."

It's Aizawa. His scarf is floating around him like it's being moved by an invisible wind. She can't see his face from the back but she's sure he's annoyed, pissed off even.

"Wait you did what to my- Ah!" Midoriya steps back in shock.

"Those goggles, I know you. You can look at someone and cancel out their powers. The erasure hero, Eraserhead!"

This whole spiel would've been impressive, if he hadn't ended with Eraserhead.

Really? Eraserhead? Who calls themselves that? Of course he's an underground hero so he isn't that known by his hero name but still. The name you take on as a hero is important, it's the name that the people you save and beat will remember..

It sounds familiar but like her most people in the class don't seem to know who he is exactly.

"You're not ready. You don't have control over your power. Were you planning to break your bones again? Counting on someone else to save your useless body?"

Wait, break his bones? Does his quirk break his bones? What kind of quirk does that? More importantly, was he really going to rely on something like that in hero work?

"No! That's not what I was trying to do!"

The scarf snaps forward pulling Midoriya closer.

"No matter what your intentions are you would be nothing more than a liability in battle. You have the same reckless passion as another overzealous hero I know, one who saved a thousand people by himself and became a legend. But even with that drive you're worthless if you can only throw a single punch before breaking down

Sorry Midoriya, with your power there's no way you can become a hero."

She agreed with him until that last sentence. While it's true that he would be in the way if he used his power like that in battle that didn't necessarily mean he had no chance of becoming a hero.

She would become a hero without a quirk so why wouldn't he be able to be one with a damaging one? As long as he's smart about when to use it and trains hard enough he has a chance.

The boy looks scared, then his face turns determined.

"I returned your impractical quirk. Take your final throw. Hurry and get it over with."

Midoriya looks down, mumbling something to himself. She can't hear what he's saying from this distance.

He stops mumbling and takes a stance. His eyes are determined and his teeth are clenched, she recognizes that look, it's the look of someone determined to prove themselves.

The atmosphere has changed. He throws his arm forward and the ball _shoots_ from his hand.

"Aizawa-sensei," he stands up straighter and clenches his fist.

"You see? I'm still standing."

Impressive. From what she heard before it sounds like he breaks his bones when he uses his quirk. When he was going to throw the ball before he was going to break his hand or even his whole arm using it, but right now she can only see a broken finger. It looks like he listened to Aizawa's speech and took his advice. He adapted and used his quirk in a way that broke his finger instead of more.

He didn't just rely on his quirk, he used his mind. That's something she can respect.

The other students seem interested too. The bubbly girl seems to be very happy that her friend finally managed to get a good score.

But there's one student who doesn't seem happy or interested, he looks shocked, angry even. She sees small explosions coming from his hands. That can't be good.

"Hey!" He rushes towards the boy. "Deku you bastard tell me how you did that!"

The look of determination falls from Midoriya's face, he looks completely scared out of his mind.

Luckily for him bandages snap forwards and trap the growling boy before he reaches him.

"Why is your scarf so damn strong?"

Their teacher calmly answers.

"Because it's a capture weapon made out of carbon fibre and a special metal alloy." His mouth tightens. "Stand down."

The voice is commanding, Aiza automatically tenses.

"It'd be wise to avoid making me use my quirk so much, it gives me serious dry-eye."

He lets the bandages go and slouches back into his bored position.

"You're wasting my time now. Whoever's next can step up."

He tiredly walks back to the sideline.

Midoriya hesitantly walks back to the group, the girl he's friends with worries over him and he tries to reassure her.

Aiza knows that stance, that walk. The low shoulders, the cautious steps, the fear in his eyes. She knows the balled up fists and the glare the blond shoots towards him. She's seen it many times on the playground.

A bully and a victim. Those two obviously have history and while she doesn't know the details she can see that it isn't positive in any way.

* * *

The tests are over, Aizawa is about to give the results.

Aiza stands in the front of the group, Jiro and Kaminari by her sides. This whole exercise Kaminari has stuck close to her. Jiro seems to stay near the two of them because they're the only ones she's talked to so far. Aiza doesn't feel like telling them off so she lets them.

Not because their presence calms her down in return, really, she would be fine on her own.

"Alright, I'll give you your results," Aizawa sighs. "I've ranked you all from best to worst. You should probably have a good idea of your standing already. I'll just pull up the whole list. It's not worth going over each individual's score."

Aiza sees the look of worry on Jiro's face. Kaminari seems more sure but she can tell he's putting up a front.

As for her, her face is as calm as always. On the inside she's nervous though. She knows she probably isn't in last place but that feeling of uncertainty is still there.

The device in the teacher's hand beeps and a holographic list is created.

A feeling of relief rushes over her, she in seventeenth place. Not as high up as she'd like but she's not last so it's still a win. The three people below her are, in order, Jiro, someone called Toru Hagakure and Midoriya. Looks like the softball throw wasn't enough to save him.

She feels a sense of sympathy. He worked so hard and tried his best but it wasn't enough. On the other hand she can't bring herself to feel bad. She's mainly just glad she won't be expelled.

"And I was lying no one's going home.

An awkward silence stretches out across the field. For a moment everyone stands still in disbelief.

"That was just a logical ruse to make sure you gave it your all in the tests."

How annoying, he seriously made all of them worry. Was it really a logical ruse though? He seemed so serious when he said it. She likes to think she's good at telling when people say something they don't mean, she's been around fakers her whole life. She didn't think the teacher was lying. So either he's a great liar or he just changed his mind. She hopes it's the latter, good liars usually make her uncomfortable.

"I'm surprised the rest of you didn't figure that out. I'm sorry I probably should've said something," says a ponytailed girl.

Next to her Jiro sighs and gives the girl an annoyed look.

"That's it we're done for the day. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom, read it over before tomorrow morning."

He pauses in front of Midoriya

"Midoriya, take this and go have the old lady fix you up. Things are gonna be tougher tomorrow when your actual training begins." He shoots a look at Aiza before continuing to walk away.

"Make sure you're prepared."

She kind of feels like that sentence wasn't just directed at Midoriya.

* * *

"Hey Aiza, you going to the station too?"

Kaminari still follows her around. By now she doesn't mind that much anymore. While she still thinks he can be annoying he isn't a complete idiot. She saw the way he used his quirk during the test, you'd think an electricity quirk wouldn't be much help with physical tests but he had managed to make it work. That was worthy of _some _respect at least.

"Nah, I just walk. It isn't too far from here and extra exercise is always good."

She specifically doesn't mention the word 'home'. The orphanage isn't her home and it never will be. It's a temporary place for her to stay, a cage. Most of the time she isn't even there. Usually she just stays in a room in Kaida's café. He lets her stay there as long as she cleans up the place after closing.

Today she's getting the last of her things from the orphanage. When she entered U.A. the carers of the orphanage finally got the excuse they needed to kick her out. Not that she really cares, she's glad to finally be able to leave the place. Her room in the café will be more crowded with the extra stuff but at least she'll never have to go back to the orphanage.

"Where do you live? I could walk with you, my house isn't too far away either."

This time it's Jiro who makes her the offer. Maybe she would have accepted another day but today she can't for two reasons. One of them being that she's going to the orphanage after school and she doesn't want her pity if she sees it. The other reason?

"Can't, I gotta talk to the principal about something."

The two of them stared at her.

"The principal?" Jiro asked.

Kaminari continued. "What do you need to go talk to the principal about?"

Jiro shoots him a look and he backtracks. "If it isn't too personal I mean, I'm curious but it's totally none of my business."

Aiza hesitated for a moment. On one hand, she doesn't want them to pity her or look down on her. In the short time she's spent with them they grew closer then she would like to admit. She doesn't want to break that connection so soon. On the other hand, she really _should_ get just get it over with. She's put it off too long already, now when she tells them and they don't accept it it'll hurt. She'll get over it like always but it will sill hurt and if she doesn't tell them now it will hurt even more later.

She looks at the ceiling and thinks it over for a bit, then makes her decision.

"I don't have a quirk so it's probably something to do with that," she says curtly. There, now they know. She looks back at them to see their reactions.

Jiro looks surprised. Kaminari mainly looks disbelieving.

"You're kidding right? No quirk? Seriously?"

"Seriously," she snaps at him.

He flinches back and it almost makes her feel guilty. But he's the one who doesn't believe her so she pushes it down.

"Don't be an asshole Kaminari," Jiro says to her surprise.

He scratches his head and sheepishly looks down.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just kind of hard to believe. But you seriously made it all this way without a quirk? Man, that's awesome. You must be some kind of fighting pro." He grins at her

"Yeah," Jiro adds. "You may not have a quirk but that means you're probably pretty good at fighting right? Since you still somehow managed to take out some of those robots at the entry exam. And you didn't come in last place at the test we just did either. You got a higher score than me at least."

Aiza doesn't know how to react. Usually whenever people find out about her lack of a quirk they pity her or think she got where she is by blackmail or something like that. She can count the amount of people who actually compliment her without sarcasm or lies on one hand.

"Yeah," she just says. Her voice isn't cracking, it's not. She's just kind of tired after her first day.

"You okay?" Kaminari looks at her in worry without pity visible anywhere in his eyes.

"Fine, I gotta go."

She quickly walks away from them in what she hopes is the direction of the principal's office.

"See you tomorrow!" Kaminari calls out after her.

She looks back and sees him grinning, Jiro standing next to him waving at her.

Her steps feel a bit lighter now.

* * *

She stands in front of the principal's office and her feet feel like lead.

Knocking on the door she hears a voice telling her to come in. She opens the door and steps inside.

What she sees is not what she expected when she heard she would have to visit the principal after school. A strange mouse-like person sits in a chair behind a large wooden desk in front of a full sized window.

"Hello Motome Aiza-chan, I am Nezu. Am I a mouse? Am I a bear? Am I a dog? Who knows? The important thing is that I am the principal of this school. It's nice to meet you."

What she hears is also not what she expected. For the principal of an academy like this he seems oddly relaxed.

"Take a seat." He gestures towards a large couch in front of the desk.

She takes place in the middle of the couch, her posture stiff.

"Now, Motome-chan, there's no need to be so stiff, relax a bit. I'm sure you have an idea as to why I called you here."

She does have multiple idea, none of them positive. But it all comes down to one thing.

"I don't have a quirk," she says trying to keep her voice even. she manages to do so relatively well. She has a lot of experience after all.

"You do not. Now there's no need to worry. I'm not going to expel you for something like that. From what I've seen I truly believe you have the potential to be an amazing hero. In the time you are here in this school we will do everything we can to make you shine as bright as possible, to give you the opportunity to live up to the full extent of your potential."

She feels relieved. The principal thinks she can be a hero and unless he's a very good liar he's telling the truth. If what he says is true they won't stop her from becoming a hero. Still she's sceptical, the main reason for this is that she feels like he's going to say something she won't like. There's always another shoe waiting to drop, the only question is when.

Apparently the answer to 'when' is now.

"However, there are people who are _concerned_ about letting someone without a quirk in the hero course. You are not our first quirkless student but you are the first quirkless student in the hero course. Certain people, namely, organizations for the welfare of quirkless people, are concerned about your safety."

There it is. The principal doesn't seem to like it either but even he needs to listen if there are enough people saying something. Quirkless defence organizations, the bane of her existence. They're a bunch of hypocrites. They say they want to _protect_ people without quirks but all they do is put them in cages and treat them like glass. They're the ones behind quirkless orphanages and schools.

The people who try to chain her down to their own believes, the belief that she is weak. That she should be protected.

"So what does that mean?" Aiza asks.

"It means," Nezu sighs. "that we will have to make a few changes to your schedule in order to pacify them. Nothing too big, you will still be able to participate in most of the classes. But some of the one-on-one combat exercises that were specifically created for the hero class will be taught without you."

Her hold on her skirt tightens. Of course. Of _fucking_ course. Naturally those hypocritical self absorbed bastards would deem combat lessons too _dangerous_ for someone without a quirk to defend themselves. How many of those fucking bastards who made the decision would even be able to land a scratch on her if they tried? They were happy to live their life in the protection of their homes with fancy jobs while she had to fight tooth and nail to get where she was and they decided that _she_ was the one who couldn't defend herself.

Nezu lays a schedule on his desk. "This will be your separate schedule. Most of the classes you will stay with 1A and do the same things they do. However, 4 hours each week you will follow lessons with class 1C. It won't interfere with the lesson plan of the subjects you follow besides combat and I'm sure you will manage to succeed in combat even without some of the lessons."

A strange glint appears in his eyes at the last sentence.

"Now I'm sure you have more important things to do right now. Your first day at U.A. is over. Congratulations. I expect great things from you Motome-chan."

Taking this as a dismissal she gets up and takes the schedule. She bows in front of the desk.

" Thank you."

This man? Mouse? Bear? Whatever, this person believes in her. He actually tried to help her. If this is the person in charge of the school things probably won't be too bad. Him, Jiro, Kaminari, even Aizawa. They're all people who either believe in her or are willing to give her a chance.

She leaves through the door and walks down the now empty hallway. It takes a while before she's outside. Looking up at the sky she sees that it's relatively late already. The matron is definitely going to complain once she gets back. Well, at least she won't ever have to hear her screeching again after today.

She head towards the gate when a she hears someone call her.

"Waaaaaait!"

A pink haired girl in a U.A. uniform runs her way.

Aiza stops, curious about what she wants. It's late and even most of the teachers are gone already, why is this girl still here?

Finally reaching Aiza the girl begins to talk.

"You.. Motome. I'm. Support."

Or at least, she tries to talk. Aiza doesn't understand what she's trying to say. The only thing she got from that was something about support? And somehow she knows her name.

"What is it?" she asks.

The strange girl takes moment before she grabs Aiza by the shoulders, getting too close in her personal space for her liking.

"Become my personal project!"

* * *

**Well. This is longer than I expected? **

**I had fun writing this, thank you SPARTPANDA and Megatron Kim for the comments. **

**And thanks for the follow and favourites! I love seeing those notifications.**

**I hope you enjoyed.**

**Leave a comment if you like.**

**~Alice**


	4. Leave and Remember

**The Ties That Choke Us**

Leave and Remember

* * *

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

Despite Aiza's rude answer the girl just keeps smiling.

Who is she? How does she know Aiza's name? What does she want with her? Aiza doesn't know the answer to any of these questions and she really doesn't like not knowing.

Still standing too close for her liking the girl starts to speak.

"The name's Hatsume Mei." She lets go of Aiza's shoulders to gesture towards herself. "Genius inventor and student of the Support Department's class 1-H. I'm here because I want _you_ to be my personal project."

"First of all." Aiza pushes the girl away from her and takes a step back. "Personal space. Second of all, what exactly do you mean when you say that you want me to be your personal project?"

Not deterred by her rudeness the girl continues talking in her loud voice.

"Well. Students of U.A's Support Department have the option of becoming a hero Course student's personal inventor, their personal tech support. Usually they don't do this because if you become someone's personal tech support you aren't allowed to make stuff for other students anymore.

Most students don't want to place all of their chips on one student and prefer to make inventions for multiple people to show they can create things for multiple quirks. But as soon as I heard about you I knew I just _had_ to become your personal tech support!"

Aiza doesn't like where this is going. "Why me? What exactly made you decide that you wanted to be my support?"

Hatsume grins.

"You don't have a quirk!"

Aiza glares at the girl, most people would've shrank back or stopped smiling at least but Hatsume clearly wasn't most people and her constant smiling and lack of personal space was starting to piss Aiza off.

"Where the hell did you hear about that?" She demands more than asks.

"I have connections. Duh. Can't tell ya how I know but don't worry, I'm the only one. So?"

Aiza tries to calm herself down for a moment, she needs to think about this clearly.

"Why should I let _you_ become my personal support? Why should I get a personal support at all? Wouldn't it be better if there were more people who made things for me?"

Hatsume steps closer once again.

"Because~ I'm not just any inventor, I'm a genius inventor. And while having multiple people can be useful they will have multiple people to help too. If you let me become you personal inventor you will get your stuff much faster and I'll be a much better help. We can discuss item ideas and I can make them for you. Besides, you'll be sure that whatever you get it'll be original and quality stuff! And if anything isn't to your liking we can test and try new things and versions."

The longer she talks the better the offer sounds. Aiza is still suspicious but she's willing to listen.

"How do I know you're really that good though? I just met you and I don't know anything about you."

Hatsume clasped her hand and Aiza had to resist the urge to defend herself. Hatsume isn't trying to attack her she's just excited.

"Why don't I show you? Come to my place tomorrow after school. I promise I'll convince you that I'm the best choice!"

She pushes a piece of paper with an address in Aiza's hands and runs off.

"Thanks you won't regret it!" She runs around a corner and disappears from sight.

Aiza stands still for a moment, overwhelmed by what just happened.

Shaking her head she begins to walk. She looks at the paper in her hand and thinks about the strange girl and what her offer could mean for Aiza.

If she accepts it could be a good thing. She'd have a personal inventor, someone who will know her and make things that would be useful to her in combat. Logically speaking it's the best option. But it all depends on how good Hatsume really is at inventing.

She's hesitant about working so closely with someone but Hatsume knows about her quirklessness already. It's the reason she want to work with Aiza in the first place.

She puts the paper in her jacket pocket. Whatever she decides, she'll do so tomorrow. No use thinking about it now.

* * *

She arrives at the orphanage's gate.

The tall gate is much less modern than the one of U.A. and the building is way darker, more old fashioned too. The spiked fence around the building gives the impression of a large cage and in a way it is.

She goes up to the camera and shows her ID. "Motome Aiza."

It takes a minute but eventually the gate opens up. She walks in and it slams shut behind her. She marches down the cobblestone path that goes through the middle of a flowerless field and leads to the mansion's doors.

She opens the heavy doors and enters. At the desk in the hall she sees Kouki-san reading a book like always. She ignores him and he ignores her. She walks up the stairs to the room she shares with 3 others: Shinkai Shinya, Kurai Shione and Ama Tori.

Only Shinya is there, sitting on the bed with a book that definitely isn't suited for an 8 year old boy.

"So you're really leaving?" He puts the book away and watches her pack her bag. It's not much; a couple of old clothes, her favourite leather jacket, a few trinkets and small presents, some necessities. She makes sure to put the drawings from the other orphanage kids away carefully.

"Yeah. I'm officially a U.A. student. I can take care of myself."

He looks at her narrowing his eyes. All of the kids know how the world works. The carers may try to keep them inside and away from the outside world but not even they know the land better than the kids. Every nook and cranny, every hidden passage leading to other rooms or the outside. No one knows how or when they were made, it doesn't really matter though. The only thing that matters is that it's something they can use, something that's theirs.

There's a whole system with a timetable for who goes out when and who covers up for them. Everyone works together like a well oiled machine. Not everyone gets along, there are a lot of fights, but in the end it's them against the carers. Them against the world. So while they all look after themselves this doesn't mean they can't work together.

"So what if you go to some fancy school, you're still 15."

It's a weak argument and he knows it. The oldest kid at the orphanage is 15, almost 16, and Junpei is getting ready to move out any moment. He has a job in a bar already, she doesn't know where, he won't tell them.

"I'm a fifteen year old heroics student, I'm gonna be training to take on villains. I think I can handle doing groceries from now on."

"I wasn't worrying," he snaps at her. The inability to admit that they care seems to be something most of the kids here have, Tori is just an exception. It's a miracle how nice she is considering the circumstances.

It doesn't matter though, they don't need to say it out loud. 'Actions over words', that's something they all believe in. Probably because they know how useless words are when people don't act on them. It doesn't matter if they don't say they care about each other. As long as they look out for each other, even if others are only a secondary priority after their own safety, that's enough.

Everyone looks out for themselves first, then the others. Everyone has the same two priorities.

Except for Tori who seems to look after the others first and then herself. Because she's and idiot.

Aiza puts the last things in her bag and zips it shut. She gets up and walks to Shinya.

"Don't copy those people you read about in your freaky books and become a serial killer," she says awkwardly.

"Don't die during your first training exercise," the snow haired brat retorts. She flicks his forehead in response.

"Tell the others to visit sometime, you know where to find me."

She stomps away leaving the door open behind her.

"Don't tell me what to do!" He calls out after her. She smirks, she knows he'll tell them. He might be a brat but in his own way he cares, like the rest of them. They're one seriously messed up family but still some kind of family.

She heads towards the reception desk where Kouki-san sits. She doesn't bother calling him and just pushes the gate's button herself. She leaves and shows him a middle finger, not that he notices. He's too busy reading one of his trashy romance novels to do his job.

She runs across the cobblestone path surrounded by a boring field, this will be the last time. She's never going back here, not if she can help it. If the others want to see her they can visit her. That's the way it always goes whenever someone leaves, they don't come back. If they stay in contact they do so by meeting up outside the orphanage. That cage holds too many bad memories for anyone to come back voluntarily.

Aiza runs through the gate, down the street, around the corner. She runs towards the nearest train station without stopping.

She's free.

* * *

Kaida's café is a small place. The wood and flowers make it look much less modern and more charming than most other shops in Musutafu. On the wood in the door the words 'Sunflower Café' are painted in a soft yellow. A signboard that says closed hangs behind the glass.

She uses her key to open the lock and steps inside. Immediately she feels calmer. The smell of flowers, coffee and pastries among things lingers in the air. It's softer than usual because it's been closed for a while now.

She's surprised when she sees Kaida standing behind the counter.

"Welcome," the light green haired man greets her with a smile.

That would explain the calm aura when she entered the café. Hibiki Kaida is the owner of the place. He's only 25 years old but he's popular in the neighbourhood already. His kind personality, pretty appearance and convenient quirk have made the café one of the most popular ones of Musutafu.

The name of Kaida's quirk is Calming Aura and it's pretty much what the name implies. Kaida constantly emits a calming aura to his surroundings, he can't turn it off, fortunately clients usually don't mind. It helps make the place an oasis of calm in the middle of a busy city.

Still, while he could have expanded his business he prefers to keep the place small. Kaida is the kind of person who dreams small, he wants nothing more than a simple life.

Aiza is glad she met him all those years ago.

"I didn't think you'd still be here," she says. "The place closed a while ago, how come you haven't left yet?"

Kaida smiles. "Staying a little longer is no bother. Besides, now that you're officially going to live here I figured I'd give you a housewarming gift."

She should've expected this. He's always doing nice things for her.

"You really didn't need to."

"But I _wanted_ to. I know you've been staying here for most of the time already but now I want you to be able to actually call this place your home. And a new home means a housewarming gift."

He ducks under the counter and comes up with a small package.

"Here, take it."

Hesitantly she takes it, sitting down on a chair near the counter she starts to remove the wrapping. When it's all gone all that's left is a small box. She opens it and her eyes widen.

A glass figurine of a Japanese dragon rests on the bottom. Its delicate curling figure stands strong and its claws are sharp, its mouth is set in a snarl, roaring up at the sky. Small wisps of brown and red shine through the glass.

"It's beautiful," Aiza whispers. "I can't take it."

"Of course you can, I bought it for you."

"It's too much."

Kaida hums. "In that case, you can see it as a congratulations and an apology in one."

She puts the box down and throws him a confused look.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I'm sorry for not believing in you. I'm sorry for trying to convince you not to be a hero. I know how much it means to you and all this time I tried to get you to stop. I should have supported you more.

I still can't say that I'm happy with what you're doing, heroism is dangerous and I'll always be scared that one day you'll come back hurt, or worse, not at all. But you managed to get into U.A. and this is really what you want to do with your life. So even if I don't like it, I'll support you. I promise that no matter what I'm always going to be there for you."

Aiza holds out until the last sentence, then she breaks. She throws herself over the counter and hugs him. Stroking her hair he hugs her back.

She isn't the kind of person who shows her feelings through physical affection, she generally doesn't show a lot of positive emotions at all. But Kaida has always been an exception. Maybe it's his quirk, maybe it's just who he is. Something about him just makes her drop her guard, it's scary yet nice. He's the closest thing to a father figure she has. Even if she's never actually said it, she loves him.

"Congratulations on entering U.A. Ai-chan."

She hides her face in his neck to avoid letting him see her teary eyes, she doesn't say anything back because she's afraid her voice will break.

For a moment they just stay there. A quirkless girl and a young man who can't turn his quirk off.

Eventually she pulls back. Without saying a word she gets her bag and the new gift and heads to her room.

This is her home now. Actually, really, officially her home.

She won't see the others from the orphanage as often anymore but she knows they'll still visit. Both for her and for Kaida.

Aiza isn't the only orphanage kid Kaida knows, she's just the one he's the closest to. Sunflower Café is one of the safe havens for the orphanage kids, no one here knows they're quirkless except for Kaida and he doesn't discriminate against them.

He doesn't want to see them hurt but it's not the same as the way most people don't want to see them hurt. He just hates seeing people hurt in general. It's why she can still love him even if he doesn't like that she wants to be a hero.

She drops her bag on the bed next to the window and sits in the chair in front of the desk. She carefully takes the glass dragon out of the box and sets it beside her pencil case. She stares at it for a while before she gets up again.

She has things she needs to unpack.

* * *

The alarm goes off early as usual. Aiza gets up and prepares for the day.

When she goes downstairs she greets Kaida who has been up for an hour already. She starts up the espresso machine and makes herself a cup, she grabs a fresh croissant and eats dinner while reading a book about the history of Japanese politics in the 21st century. It's pretty interesting.

She finishes her espresso and puts the book in her school bag.

"Do you have everything?" Kaida asks.

"Yeah, you need any help?"

"No, don't worry about it. You just be sure to make it to school on time."

"I will."

She puts on her backpack and her running shoes.

"I'll be back later than usual. There's this girl from the Support Department who wants to convince me to let her be my personal support. She's gonna show me some of her inventions after school. I'll make sure to be back before dinner though."

Kaida's smile brightens.

"It's fine as long as you're with a friend."

She blows a strand of hair out of her face. "Not my friend. Later."

"Have a great day!"

She leaves and closes the door behind her.


	5. Let's Begin

**The Ties That Choke Us**

Let's Begin

* * *

Aiza's second morning at U.A. isn't nearly as exciting as her first one. In fact, it's pretty similar to the orphanage's school, except with a bigger class.

Jiro and Kaminari still hang around her. During lunch they talk quite a lot. Apparently Jiro and her have similar tastes in music, they both like rock. Jiro can even play some instruments. She seems kind of embarrassed about it at first but when she finds out Aiza likes rock music she starts to open up.

Turns out Kaminari likes rock music too. He likes other styles as well but he knows enough to talk about it with them. He's pretty different from the both of them though and they usually end up teasing him, Jiro especially. Aiza joins in sometimes, it's just too easy. Still, he's pretty fun to hang out with and not a total idiot.

It's in the afternoon that things really begin.

Hero basic training.

"I am here!" All Might enters the classroom. "Coming through the door like a hero!"

The dramatic entrance almost makes her laugh. Despite his imposing reputation it seems like All Might, the number one hero and Symbol of Peace is actually kind of a dork. So weird, she knows that heroes are still human but knowing and seeing are two different things.

It's kind of relieving to see that the strongest hero is still so human.

He begins his speech. "Welcome to the most important class at U.A. high! Think of it as hero-ing 101. Here you will learn the basics of being a pro. And, what it means to fight in the name of good. Let's get into it! Today's lesson will pull no punches!"

Combat training, yes! It probably won't be one-on-one battles since she's allowed to be here this lesson but still. Her first actual heroics lesson, she's excited and nervous at the same time.

Despite all of her training and determination she's still a bit uncertain deep down. All of the other students have quirks, she doesn't. She _has_ to perform well today. She needs to show them that she can keep up even without a quirk.

She tries to regulate her breathing and continues to listen to All Might.

"But one of the keys to being a hero is.. Looking good! These were designed for you based on your quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started."

4 panels come out of the wall, there are 20 costumes in total. One of them is hers, she hopes they made what she asked them to. Her costume is a big part of her strength, it will have all of her tools and equipment.

"Get yourselves suited up and then meet me at training ground beta!"

"Yes sir," she says with the rest of her class.

* * *

They made the costume exactly as she asked them to, it's perfect.

A black bulletproof vest over a grey short sleeved shirt to protect her chest area from injuries, a black fire-resistant coat with a large hood and lots of inside pockets to protect her and hold her gadgets. They made her black cargo pants with even more pockets than she asked for and the grey belt comes with an electricity conducting collapsible staff and a survival knife, the rest of her gadgets will have to come later. Her combat boots are anti static.

She's wearing two gloves, one red and one black. Under her coat her forearms are covered by two long metal bracelets in case she needs to fight someone who uses a knife or another sharp weapon.

Her mask isn't anything impressive looking, it's a simple black mouth mask. It was created to filter out the worst of poisonous gasses in case she ever needs to fight someone who uses gaseous toxins.

Her favourite thing about the outfit is how many things she can carry with her. Flash bombs, smoke bombs, extra throwing knives (the teachers can never find out where she learned how to use those), a seemingly endless supply of wires and tranq darts, painkillers and other first aid necessities. It's amazing. She doesn't have those things yet, but she'll add them later. And if Hatsume is as good as she says her inventory will be even more impressive. She'll have to think about what's most important to carry with her later.

She and the rest of her class walk out of their dressing rooms and to the training ground.

"They say the clothes make the pro's young ladies and gentlemen and behold, you are the proof," All might begins. "Take this to heart, from now on you are all heroes in training!"

He grins his signature grin at them. "Now, shall we get started?"

Aiza looks around. Next to her she notices Jiro's outfit, it doesn't have a lot of support items but it suits her. The rock theme is really her style and the clothes seem to be made from a durable material. She has to admit, even if they don't really have any practical use the triangles under her eyes are a nice touch.

Kaminari's clothes have an obvious theme too. The white lightning bolts on his black jacket and pants look pretty cool, she doesn't know if the earphone has any practical use but it goes nicely with the rest of the outfit. All in all though, it looks like not a lot of people have made use of support items in their outfit.

"Cool outfit," Kaminari says. "You really know how to use those things?" He points to the staff and the dagger.

"Yeah, I picked some stuff up. I usually prefer to just fight with my hands but that won't always be an option so it's good to be prepared."

Jiro and Kaminari nod in understanding, although Kaminari still has a sceptic look on his face.

Midoriya is the last to arrive, once he's joined them All Might continues.

"Now that you're ready it's time for combat training."

"Sir," a boy who's dressed in a suit of armour says, she's pretty sure it's Iida. "This is the fake city from out entrance exam. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

A good question, but she has the feeling it won't be that simple. She doesn't think U.A. is the kind of school that would use the same exercise multiple times.

"Not quite, we're going to move you two steps ahead."

Like she thought, this will be different from the entrance exam.

"Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside, however, statistically speaking run-ins with the most dastardly evildoers take place indoors. Think about it. Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows.

For this training exercise you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles."

A frog-like girl speaks up. "Isn't this a little advanced?"

Aiza agrees. She doesn't know how much combat experience everyone here has. Maybe it would've been better if they had gotten some combat training before doing actual villain scenarios. Then again, maybe not. Heroes need to deal with villains whose abilities they don't know all the time. Now might be the best time to pit them against each other now that they don't really know all of each other's abilities yet. This exercise could be good to see how they react to unknown factors.

"The best training is what you get on the battlefield! But remember, you can't just punch a robot this time, you're dealing with actual people now," All Might answers.

Personally Aiza actually prefers a combat situation with real people. Destroying the robots was pretty simple, look for weak spots and destroy them. Fighting people who she doesn't really know yet will be much more challenging. Then again, if it's challenging it means she'll be able to learn more.

Upon hearing All Might's answer the class starts asking questions, she's pretty sure at least one of those has nothing to do with the exercise.

"I wasn't finished talking. Listen up, the situation is this," he gets a piece of paper and begins to explain the exercise in more detail. "The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that the good guys either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise the bad guys succeed if they protect the weapon or capture the heroes."

Sounds simple enough. All in all it's a good training exercise. For the hero teams it's a recovery mission, for the villain teams it's a guarding mission which will give them some good experiences as well. On top of that both teams get to fight against real people.

All Might hold up a box. "Time is limited and we'll choose teams by drawing lots!"

"Isn't there a better way?" Iida questions.

Instead of All Might it's Midoriya who answers him. "Think about it, pro's often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot so maybe that's the reason we're drawing random lots."

Iida straightens. "Yes, I see. Life is a random series of events." He falls into a bow. "Excuse my rudeness!"

The pro hero turns around and pumps his fist. "No sweat, let's draw!"

All Might starts picking lots for everyone.

"-team G consists of Jiro Kyoka and Motome Aiza, team H will be Tokoyami Fumikage and Asui Tsuyu, team-"

Jiro sends her a smile. "Looks like we're a team huh."

"Yeah," Aiza answers. "I don't know the exact limits of your abilities yet and you don't know mine so we'll have to discuss that later."

Jiro nods. "I had the same idea."

All Might begins to decide the hero and villain teams. "I declare that the first hero and villain fight will be..."

He takes two balls out of the boxes. "These guys!"

So team D will be the villains and team A will be the heroes. She thinks team A is Midoriya and the bubbly girl but she doesn't remember team D.

"Team D can be the villains, team A will be the heroes. Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch."

"Yes sir."

Besides team A, Iida and Bakugou remain. So they will be the heroes. Aiza heads to the monitoring room, Jiro and Kaminari walking beside her. She's glad she's been paired up with Jiro and she's lucky she isn't the first team to go. Being able to observe a battle before she begins is a huge advantage, it'll be useful for planning.

She wonders how this first battle will go.

* * *

Class 1-A is even crazier than she first thought. Bakugou had actually been trying to kill Midoriya! She's sure of it, she knows the difference between sparring, just fighting and going for the kill. The guy didn't care about anything other than beating Midoriya that much was obvious. But what was even more surprising was that All Might had let it go so far.

"All right then," All Might said when he came back from the infirmary. "that was round number one. Now I hope that you all will be more careful. There is nothing wrong with competitive spirit and determination but do not take this as an example, knowing when to hold back is important too." He cleared his throat and continued.

"Now, this time team G will be the heroes and team I will be the villains. Please go to your place and prepare to begin."

The invisible girl and the guy with the tail immediately stood up and headed for the training ground. Jiro and Aiza quickly followed them and stopped before the building.

"Alright, with my earphone jacks I'll be able to pinpoint their location once we head inside. It's probably best if I take Hagakure since I'll be able to find her. So you should take Tail-guy then."

Aiza nodded. "Sounds good to me. How about this. You tell me their locations once we head inside, you go for Hagakure and I'll go find the other guy if they're split up. Then we try to drive them together. Since most of us don't know each other very well yet they probably won't fight well together either, especially since I'm assuming that Hagakure's partner won't be able to see her either. Don't worry about us getting in the way of each other, I'll adapt."

Jiro shares a smirk with her. "Let's ace this thing," she says, quoting Aiza's words from before the Quirk tests.

"Team G! Team I! You're up!" All Might's voice booms from the speakers and Aiza feels the adrenaline run through her veins.

"Let's ace this thing." She grins back at her friend partner.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Ties That Choke Us**

Oh, The Chaos to Come

* * *

As soon as Jiro located their targets they split up. Walking through the quiet hallway Aiza stays on guard, her back straight, her arms in a defensive position, ready to fight at any moment. It reminds her of dark evenings roaming narrow streets looking for people to take her anger out on. Except those streets were never this quiet, there was always some kind of noise: loud parties, bar fights, whispering people making shady deals.

Another few steps and she's at her destination. Behind this door is her first opponent. No use in going for stealth anymore, he's sure to be watching the door.

She steps back and in one swift move kicks the door's handle, breaking it down.

She takes a short second to observe her surrounding before attacking.

As she suspected the boy with the tail is in front of door, already in fighting position. Her blocks her step-kick and replies with a straight punch of his own. Ducking underneath it she tries to get out of his line of sight while scanning her surroundings. What can she use? What are possible obstacles?

He follows her and tries to drive her away from the 'bomb'. A flurry of kicks and punches clouds her vision, she does the same. They fall into the rhythm of the fight until she feels the air behind her shift. Quickly she drops into a roll away from her assailant, as soon as she stands up she observes her opponent.

The tail, of course, how could she have forgotten that? Frustrated she bites her lip, an amateur mistake. But self-reflection can come after the fight.

The adrenaline had temporarily pushed her goal to the back of her mind. He may be good, but she didn't need to win the fight, she had to win the war.

Calming herself she relaxes her aggressive position a bit, switching to a more defensive stance. Her opponent narrows his eyes, clearly he's a good martial artist, he can see the changes in her posture and realizes that she won't attack. Not immediately at least.

He takes a step towards her and she stands her ground. She won't attack but she won't run either. She just has to wait here for Jiro to arrive with her opponent.

The two of them stay like this for a while, neither of them moving. He doesn't attack because the time-limit will be his victory and she doesn't attack because of the plan.

A short time passes and Aiza starts to get frustrated when Jiro runs inside towards Aiza, seemingly being chased by no one.

"Motome!" she calls out sending a quick look behind her.

Swiftly Aiza extends her staff and swings it at the empty space behind Jiro. A sharp cry rings out, it feels like she hit someone in the stomach.

Tail-guy makes a panicked sound. "Hagakure!" he says.

Jiro and Aiza make eye contact and with one look they both know what to do.

Aiza throws her staff to her right and they both rush at him, distracted by his hurt friend and the sound of the staff his reaction time is slower than Aiza knows it usually is. A short distance in front of him Jiro takes a sharp turn to the left to run around him while Aiza keeps going forward throwing a left-punch at his stomach followed by an elbow at his face and a sweeping kick at his knees.

He manages to block the punch and dodge most of the elbow but the kick hits him full-on. As he falls on the ground Jiro slaps the target.

"Hero team wins!" The loud voice of All Might booms over the speakers.

Jiro and Aiza grin at eachother, Jiro lets out a whoop of joy while she walks at Aiza.

"Damn straight!" She holds up her hand for a high-five. Happily Aiza high-fives her.

"Congratulations," the tailed boy says looking a bit disappointed. Still he gives them both a smile.

"That really hurt!" Hagakure whines. "Still, that was fun! And leading me here was actually a pretty good idea."

Jiro smirks at her. "Thanks. Aiza did most of the planning though."

Aiza fights a blush and looks at her former opponents, her classmates. "I doubt I could've taken her out that easily if it wasn't for you. And you guys weren't bad either. Where did you learn how to fight like that?" The last question is meant for the guy she just fought, he's really good.

He looks up and scratches his cheek in embarrassment. "Judo mainly, but I've tried a lot of different fighting styles."

Together the four of them walk back to the rest of the class. Once they arrive All Might greets them with a smile on his face as always.

"Good job students! Now, time to review the exercise! The MVP of this match was.. Jiro Kyoka! Would anyone care to take a guess why?" He shot a look at Yaoyorozu.

The ponytailed girl cleared her throat. "Hagakure's strategy would have been good if her opponent had been Aiza, but she decided to fight Jiro. Even after it became clear that jiro could sense where she was she followed her and let herself be lead into a trap.

Ojiro's fighting skills are excellent and good for close combat but he was content to let time run out instead of fighting his opponent despite the possibility that the standstill was a part of her plan.

Motome's combat skills, like Ojiro's, are more advanced than most people's. The plan of attack she and Jiro thought up was good too. Still, after finding her target she let herself be carried away during their fight and wasted more energy than necessary.

Jiro is the MVP because followed the plan she and Motome had made for the exercise and used her quirk in a creative way that was useful for the situation. She showed self-restraint by not letting the fight distract her from the plan and worked together with her partner to achieve their goal.

If possible All Might's smile widened even more. "Excellent analysis young Yaoyorozu! Now, let's move on to the next match!"

While the next teams moved out Aiza contemplated Yaoyorozu's explanation. It seems her main problem was a relative lack of self-restraint. She had managed to hold herself back but only after a while, she needed to be able to do so faster. What she needed was more control.

She would think about what she could do to improve this aspect of herself later. Right now she had classmates to analyse and advice to listen to.

"Team B! Team J! You may begin!"

* * *

"Best. Day. Ever!"

"I'm pretty sure you said that yesterday too Kaminari."

Aiza looks at her two classmates as they walk beside her. Both of them still seem to be in a good mood because of the training exercise today.

"You can call me Denki you know." He awkwardly scratches his head.

The three of them come to a stop at the school gates and Aiza raises an eyebrow at him.

"We've barely known each other for two days and you already want us to call you by your first name?" she questions.

"Well, I mean, sure we've only known each other for two days. But we're friends right? And we'll be in the same class for the next 3 years so I don't mind. I mean.." The longer he talks the more hesitant he gets.

"If you guys want to, I mean."He looks away in embarrassment.

"Only if you call me Jiro then."

It's surprisingly nice of her, especially since this could've been the perfect opportunity to tease him. Then again, she is kinder than she first appears to be.

His face brightens and his confidence returns in record time.

"Awesome!" He casts a hopeful look at Aiza.

Hesitantly she begins to speak. "In that case. You guys can call me Aiza."

Kaminari and jiro, Denki and Kyoka, smile at her. And in that moment Aiza thinks she quite likes having friends. Real friends, maybe.

"I gotta go buy some stuff at the market for my parents," Denki says. "You guys wanna come with? Maybe we can visit some foodstalls."

Kyoka sends him an apologetic look. "Sorry I promised my cousin I'd help him study for a history test. Maybe tomorrow?"

Denki looks a bit dejected and looks at Aiza.

"Sorry, I have plans too." She pauses before continuing, "But if you guys are free tomorrow there's this café we can go too."

This cheers Denki up again. "I'm good for tomorrow."

"Me too."

"See you guys tomorrow then."

* * *

Hatsume's place was.. bigger than she'd expected.

Aiza walks up to the gate of the large mansion and is reminded of the orphanage, it's very different from the orphanage in many ways though. For one, the orphanage always had this feeling of gloominess to it. This mansion has much lighter colours and the atmosphere surrounding it is much warmer. That might be because of the garden, the Japanese style garden is beautiful and peaceful, iron considering the girl who lives here.

She pushes the bell and shortly after a voice sounds over the intercom.

"Who is it?"

"Hello, my name is Motome Aiza. I'm here for Hatsume Mei. She asked me to come over today."

"Motome Aiza, of course. Come in."

There's a short pause and the door opens.

Aiza quickly walks inside and the gate shuts behind her. She isn't even halfway across the garden before the mansion's door opens.

"Motome! You came!"

Hatsume's grin is as bright as when she introduced herself to Aiza yesterday. As soon as Aiza is within reach she grabs her hand and drags her along. Aiza makes a half-hearted attempt to free herself but she feels like the crazy girl will grab her again as soon as she's loose anyways. Meanwhile said crazy girl keeps on talking.

"This is great. I wasn't completely sure you'd come but it's good that you did! Come on I'll take you to meet my babies so you can be impressed and then you'll agree to become my personal project and I'll get to show off all of my adorable babies and it'll be awesome for everyone."

Before today Aiza didn't even know anyone could talk this much. Kaminari talks the most out of the three of them but not even he can talk nearly as much as Hatsume. Which says a lot because his rant on why Persona 5 is better than 3 was pretty impressive.

"We're here!"

Hatsume opens the door leading to the basement, turns on the light and walks in, Aiza follows shortly after.

Having arrived downstairs Aiza has to admit, it all looks pretty impressive. Chaotic, but impressive.

The large room is filled with inventions, metal plates, loose parts, tools and other things. In the centre of it all is a long table covered in blueprints and sketches.

"I did clean it up yesterday evening, but then I had some new ideas and by the time I had to leave for school it was all messy again so I just left it like this." She shrugs and walks over to the table.

"Anyways let's get started! This here," she holds up something that looks like a large iron backpack. "is my Jet Pack!"

Aiza looks it over. "A Jet Pack? Does it really work?"

Hatsume laughs. "Does it? Of course it does! Just press this tiny trigger here and it activates it's turbines, letting the user fly short distances. Isn't it amazing?"

The ability to make a Jet Pack is impressive, but..

"It's kind of large though. It would be useful for some instances but in general it would probably just weigh me down and get in the way. Do you have anything smaller that could be used to get around?"

Hatsume hums for a moment before she brightens again. "Small, light, good to get around places quickly. I have just the thing!"

She moves away from the table and digs around a pile near a gigantic suit. "Where did I put it again?"

It takes a while but eventually a triumphant shout comes from her direction. "Got it!" She holds up a sharp gun-like grappling hook device.

"This is exactly what you need. I present to you my original Swift-Shot Grappling Hook! It takes some practice to use it but once you've mastered it there won't be anywhere you can't go. Running over city roofs jumping from building to building? Climbing through the forest moving from branch to branch? It's quick, it's quiet, and most importantly, it's strong enough to hold up to three! Hundred! Pounds! What do you think?"

This is enough to make Aiza's eyes widen. "300 pounds? Really?"

"Really really! I never lie about my inventions."

She holds the grappling hook out for Aiza to hold. It's not exactly light, but it's not too heavy either. And if it's really capable of what Hatsume told her the pro's outweigh the cons.

"Can you show me how to use it?"

Apparently that's exactly what Hatsume wanted to hear.

"Of course! So does this mean you'll accept my offer?"

Aiza looks up from the grappling hook and smirks at Hatsume. "If this is as good as you say it is, yes. Now, where can I learn how to use this thing?"

Hatsume takes her baby back from Aiza and cackles.

"Just follow me. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership Motome, I look forward to working with you!"

* * *

**Could it be? Two updates in two days?!**

**Yep, I love quiet days. The next few weeks won't be as calm but I'll try to find some time for writing anyways.**

**Please let me know what you think of the latest chapter! Comments are always great.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~Alice**


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